4. Realist Theories

Question 1

Crime is not just a social construction

Answer 1

-Significant rise in the crime rate
-Concerned about the widespread fear of crime and the impact of crime on its victims
-Other theories have failed to offer realistic solutions to the problem of crime and they propose what they regard as practical policies to reduce it

Question 2

Differences between realism and previous theories

Answer 2

-They abandon ‘Grand Theories’ such as Marxism. They are not interested in ‘deep structural causes’ such as Capitalism as Criminologists can’t get rid of Capitalism
-They are more ‘pragmatic’: they ask how governments can reduce crime here and now, and work within the constraints of the social system
-You need to know about two types- Right and Left Realism

Question 3

Right Realism

Answer 3

-Crime threatens society’s work ethic and undermines social cohesion
-Wilson- main right realist thinker was special advisor for crime to President Reagan
-Criminologists had produced many theories of crime but no solutions worked in reducing crime rate
-Practical crime control measures were needed
-More focus on control and punishment renter than rehabilitation or tackling the causes of crime
-Labelling and critical criminology= too sympathetic to the criminal
-Right realists do make some suggestions about what causes crime although their focus is on how to tackle crime

Question 4

What causes crime?

Answer 4

1. Rational choice theory
2. Broken windows theory
3. The underclass

Question 5

1. Rational choice theory

Answer 5

-An important element in the right realist theory of crime is the idea that crime is a matter of individual choice- individuals choose to commit crime
-States that most criminals are rational actors. If the criminal calculates that the risk of getting caught is low, or that the punishment if caught will not be severe then they are more likely to commit crime, assuming reward is high enough.
-Crime will increase if: rewards higher, no risk of caught, no punishment

Question 6

Cohen and Felson- Routine activity theory

Answer 6

-Argued in most cases social control mechanisms, lack of opportunity and/or the risk of getting caught prevented crime from taking place
-Crime therefore needed three conditions to take place:
1. Individuals who were motivated to offend
2. The availability of opportunity and targets
3. Lack of guardians such as parents or police preventing crime from occurring
-Therefore crime in their view was opportunistic

Question 7

Evaluation of rational choice theory

Answer 7

-It seems to explain most property crime (80% of crime)
-Holds criminals responsible for their actions (unlike labelling theory)
-Does not explain Crimes or Emotion/ Crimes of Passion: murder, domestic violence… street violent- spur of the moment with no rational choice
-Status may come from the fact you are prepared to take the risk of getting caught

Question 8

2. Broken Windows theory

Answer 8

-Based on James & Wilson and George Kellings article ‘Broken Windows’
-Use the phrase ‘Broken windows’ to stand for all the various signs of disorder and lack of concern for others that are found in some neighbourhoods. E.g. noise, graffiti, tolerating aggressive behaviour.
-Sends out a signal no one cares
-Absence of formal and informal social control (police + community)
-Police are only concerned with serious crime and turn a blind eye to petty nuisance
-Without remedial action, the situation deteriorates, tipping the neighbourhood into a spiral of decline.
-Respectable people move out (if they can) and the area becomes a magnet for deviants.

Question 9

Evaluation of Broken Windows theory

Answer 9

-Supporting- CSEW stats suggest higher levels of crime in poorer neighbourhood
-There is mixed evidence of whether high levels of social disorder lead to higher levels of criminality
-The concepts of both social disorder and crime are hard to define and measure (operationalise) so it’s difficult to test theory

Question 10

3. The Underclass

Answer 10

-Charles Murray argued that changes to family structure was responsible for much of the increase in the crime rate in the 1970’s and 80’s
-Largely attributes the growth of crime because of a growing underclass who are defined by their deviant behaviour and fail to socialise their children properly
-The children of the underclass fail to learn self control, and also fail to learn difference between right and wrong
-Underclass has increased because: increase in welfare dependency and growth of lone parent families
-Murray= Absent fathers mean than boys lack paternal discipline and appropriate male role models. As a result, young males turn to other, delinquent role models on the street to gain status through crime rather than supporting their families through a steady job.

Question 11

Evaluation of underclass

Answer 11

-From a Marxist POV, there may be deeper structural causes which explain the emergence of the underclass- victims of capitalism
-There is and ideological bias to the theory, the media exaggerate crimes of underclass and public focus on this rather than crimes of the elite

Question 12

How should we control crime?

Answer 12

There are certain things that can be put in place to try and prevent crime:……

Question 13

1. Situational crime prevention

Answer 13

-Focus on the specific point at which potential victims and criminals come together, making it harder for the criminal to commit crime
-Stem directly from Rational Choice theory and involve either reducing the opportunity for people to commit crime or increasing the risk of getting caught
-Two basic ways you can do this:
•Increasing surveillance of the population
•Target hardening (making buildings, objects and people harder to steal kidnap or damage)

Question 14

Marcus Felson (1998)

Answer 14

-Gives an example of situational crime prevention strategy. The Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City was poorly designed and provided opportunities for crime. The toilets were a good place to steal luggage and deal drugs etc.
-They re designed the physical environment to ‘design out’ crime

Question 15

Evaluation

Answer 15

Strengths
-Relatively easy to implement (pragmatic)
-There is evidence this works to reduce crime in built up urban areas
-Makes the public feel safer
Weaknesses
-Crime Displacement (just moved crime on to other areas)
-Too expensive for rural areas with diapered populations
-Only those wealthy enough can afford it
-It ignores the underlying causes of crime
-Surveillance intrudes on civil liberties

Question 16

2. Environmental crime prevention

Answer 16

-Involve changing the broader area or environment in which crime occurs through increasing formal and informal social control measures in order to clamp down on anti-social behaviour and prevent an area from deteriorating
-These strategies tend to rely much more heavily on the police than situational crime prevention strategies
-Stem directly from Wilson and Kellings broken Windows theory
-Examples of ECP policies include Zero Tolerance Policing, curfews, street drinking bans

Question 17

Zero tolerance policing

Answer 17

-Involves strictly enforcing penalties for relatively minor crimes or anti social behaviour such as begging, drug possession, public drinking
-Famously used to crack down on rapidly increasing crime in New York City in the 1980’s, which was suffering from a crime epidemic, linked to high levels crack-cocaine use at that time
- In the UK Zero-tolerance policing allegedly slashed crime in Liverpool, a city historically blighted by antisocial behaviour and violent assaults, following its introduction in 2005. Overall recorded crime fell by 25.7 per cent in the three years to 2008 with violent crime falling by 38%.
-It was not only the likes of drug dealers and burglars who were targeted. Boys kicking footballs against an old lady’s fence, litterbugs and graffiti louts were also on the police’s radar

Question 18

Evaluation

Answer 18

Strengths
-Holds criminals responsible for their crimes
-Some evidence that ZT has worked to reduce crimes- New York
-Makes public feel as if ‘justice is being done’
Weaknesses
-Other social factors may actually be responsible for falling crime
-Solutions may lead to more crime in long run, criminal records and criminal careers
-More power to the police, more stereotyping (targeting youth, minorities)

Question 19

Left Realism

Answer 19

-Developed in 1980s and 90s
-See society as an unequal capitalist one
-Reformist rather than revolutionary socialists
-Gradual change rather than violent overthrow of capitalism
-Need explanation of crime that will lead to practical strategies for reducing it now rather than waiting for revolution

Question 20

Taking crime seriously

Answer 20

-Crime is a real problem, it affects disadvantaged groups. Criticise in the following ways:
•Marxism- concentrated on crimes of the powerful. It is important but neglects working class crime and its effects
•Neo Marxists- romanticise WC criminals as modern day Robin Hoods. Left realists say WC criminals mostly victimise other WC people
•Labelling theorists- see WC criminals as the victims of discriminatory labelling by social agents. This approach neglects the real victims- WC people who suffer at the hands of criminals.

Question 21

Who is affected by crime?

Answer 21

-Left realists argue the increase was too great to be explained in this way and was real
-Recognise who is most affected by crime - local victim surveys show that the problem is greater than that shown by official statistics. Disadvantaged groups more likely to become victims
-Disadvantaged groups therefore have a greater fear of crime

Question 22

Causes of crime

Answer 22

-Lea and Young (1984) identified 3 related causes of crime: relative deprivation, subculture and marginalisation

Question 23

Causes of crime: Relative deprivation

Answer 23

-Crime has roots in deprivation, but deprivation itself is not directly responsible for crime
-Relative deprivation = how deprived we feel in relation to others or our own expectations. This can lead to crime when people resent others unfairly having more and resort to crime to obtain it
-People are now better off but also more aware of relative deprivation (media and advertising)

Question 24

Causes of crime: subculture

Answer 24

-Linked to criminal subculture work by Merton, Cohen and Cloward and Ohlin
-Subculture is a groups collective solution to a problem or relative deprivation
-Different groups may produce different subcultural solutions. Some turn to crime, some to religion
-Religious subcultures may encourage conformity
-Criminals subcultures often subscribe to values and goals of mainstream
society but resort to crime as as the legitimate ways are blocked

Question 25

Causes of crime: marginalisation

Answer 25

-These groups lack clear goals and organisations to represent their interests
-Unemployed youth are marginalised. No organisation to represent them and no clear goals
-Being powerless to use political means to improve position means they express frustration through criminal means such as violence and rioting

Question 26

Late modernity, exclusion and crime

Answer 26

-Young (2002)- we are now living in the stage of late modern society. Instability, insecurity and exclusion make crime worse
-De-industrialisation and loss of unskilled jobs = increased unemployment.
-Increased inequality between rich and poor
-Growing contrast between cultural inclusion and economic exclusion
-Relative deprivation can happen throughout society rather than being confined to those at the bottom
-Amount and types of crime are changing.
-Reactions to crime are also changing.

Question 27

Falling crime rate

Answer 27

-Crime has fallen since 1990’s
-As crime is a social construction it is still seen as a problem
-61% of CSEW 2014 thought crime had risen not fallen

Question 28

Rinsing anti-social behaviour rate

Answer 28

-Since the 1990’s government has tried to control a wider range of behaviour with ASBOs and IPNAs. They have several key features:
•blurring of boundaries of crime
•subjective definition
•flexibility
-Crime rate IS going down but new crimes are starting

Question 29

Tackling crime: Policing and control

Answer 29

-Kinsey, Lea and Young (1986) - argue police clear-up rates are too low to act as a deterrent to crime, police spend too little time actually investigating crime.
-Military policing - police depend on the public to provide them with information about crimes. Police losing public support, especially in inner cities, among ethinic minorities and the young.
-‘Swamping’ and stop and search tactics
-Alienates communities - vicious cycle
-Policing must be accountable to local communities and deal with local
concerns, involve public in making policing policy